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Measurement Of Skin Friction Drag On Hydrophobic Silica Aerogel Surfaces With Potential Application To Technical Swimsuit Design, Matthew R. Wahl
Measurement Of Skin Friction Drag On Hydrophobic Silica Aerogel Surfaces With Potential Application To Technical Swimsuit Design, Matthew R. Wahl
Honors Theses
The goal of this project was to fabricate and test a prototype technical swimsuit (low-drag suit worn by swimmers in their most important races) that utilized the hydrophobic properties of silica aerogels. This process involved coating a preexisting suit with aerogel material and completing the build of the newly redesigned water channel at Union College. To evaluate performance of materials, surface drag testing of airfoils coated in aerogel materials was performed using a dynamometer in the water channel. Several additions were made to the water channel in order to reduce variation in drag results. Variation was successfully decreased from 134% …